May 20, 2013
One of NASA's newest astronauts is a local boy: Bobby Satcher.
Satcher graduated from Demark-Olar High School in 1982. He went on to MIT and later became a doctor.
Recently NASA recruited Satcher for his medical skills.
Right now he's working as a support staff astronaut, but hopes to make it into space soon.
NASA plans to retire the shuttle in 2010. News 12 asked Satcher what he thought about this.
"My thoughts are it's a very exciting time, because there's a lot of activity going on. And we still are going to complete the international space station, and we're going to look beyond. Specifically, the first thing we'll be doing after that is returning to the moon," Satcher says.
Satcher says his favorite teacher at Denmark-Olar was his chemistry teacher, Mrs. Williams.
If you haven't figured it out yet, Satcher is really into science.
And studying up on the subject is what he recommends to other local kids who want to go to space one day.
"My advice is just to pursue math and science. People that are selected as astronauts all have that in common: they have a background in math and science. So focus on that in your schoolwork and do your best and it will be a possibility for you."
